By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
CSKA Moscow expected a fight against Panathinaikos, but not necessarily a Game 5. However that’s how this series will end, with the Russians, among the favorites to go all the way this season, facing a really solid team, which lives by its defense.
Just before leaving Athens for Moscow and Game 5 against Panathinaikos, CSKA Moscow‘s guard Aaron Jackson talked to Eurohoops about the two defeats in Greece and admitted that the easy win in Game 2 was misleading: “I think that the big one in the second game, when we won by 20+ got us a little overzealous. We though we were going to be in the final four and that thing came back and bite us in the ass”.
Still CSKA was waiting for that kind of response by the Greens: “Τhat’s why it was so important for us to get the first two wins at home, because we know they have legends on their team, they have a legend as a coach, then they have this great crowd that supported them. So we knew it was going to be a tough fight and luckily we have to get back to our home court for Game 5”.
CSKA doesn’t have the same rowdy crowd as Panathinaikos, but that’s a footnote for the next game: “It doesn’t matter, because we are on the court. Yes, they have a great crowd, but we like playing in front of our fans, they are supporting as no matter what and they even carry us sometimes”.
As for the reasons of the two defeats in Athens, the explanation according to Jackson is pretty simple: “I think it’s just the rebounds. We just gave up too many offensive rebounds at the end of possessions. For some reason we were always missing our last assignment and some one was always open and made a big shot when they needed it. We got tο struggle in order to score and sometimes they get easy shots”.